For the boy’s Death Eater costume, he really didn’t want any Slytherin gear, as he said (and rightly) that Draco Malfoy skulking around as a Death Eater would not be wearing his Slytherin scarf. But since a death eater doesn’t really look like anything other than a creepy guy in a mask without something to indicate Harry Potter-ness, I talked him into the scarf, so Draco could go incognito.

So here’s the quick tutorial on making the Slytherin scarf. As with any of my sewing projects, I’m not a seamstress, and I don’t measure.

Supplies: 1 green sweatshirt and 1 grey sweatshirt. We’re basically just using the sweatshirts as a comfy and cheap source of material here.

Step 1:Assess your fabric potential: If your sweatshirts have design on them, that will limit the amount of fabric you can get off of them, so take that into account. Minimally you should have a large piece from the back, a large piece from the front, plus you can split your sleeves along the bottom seam for 2 more large pieces.

(see more steps under the photos)

Lay out the pattern for your scarf

Fabric Rectangles (the ‘good’ side is the side you want to show on your scarf)

Pin together with good sides facing

Continue to add alternating colors.

“Front” of fabric panel

After you have all the pieces attached, hem both ends.

Fold in half lengthwise, and pin each stripe.

Sew all the way down your tube, then turn inside out to see the final scarf!

Step 2: Cut your rectangles. Figure out the width you want your scarf to be. You’ll need to cut out rectangles of fabric for your stripes at double that width, and at least 5 or 6 inches tall (the taller, the less you need – use the size of your workable fabric to determine how tall). If you have more fabric available from one of your shirts, plan on that one being the one on the ends of the scarf, so you’ll need 1 more square of that color.

The rectangles of each color should be approximately the same size (i.e. all the greens 7 in and all the greys 5 in) .

Step 3: Layout. Starting with your end color (Green in my case), lay out your rectangles in order to get an idea of length. Remember, you’ll be sewing these together, so you’ll lose some length to seams. Remember to start and end with the same color (in my case, I also made the green end pieces a little bit taller)

Step 4: Sew together the rectangles. Start with one end piece. Place “good” sides together with the good side of the opposing color, and machine stitch. Continue until you have one long piece of stripes. Remember to place the sides you want to show together each time you add a new color.

Step 5: You now have a long piece of striped fabric. But both of your ends are still unfinished, so run a quick hem on either end (see photo)

Step 6: Fold your long piece of striped fabric. in half lengthwise, so that the bad side is showing. Pin all the way down, making sure each stripe matches up.

Step 7. Sew the seam you just pinned to make a really long tube. Turn tube right side out to see your finished scarf!